You are currently viewing the old forums. We have upgraded to a new NFL Forum. This old forum is being left as a read-only archive.
Please update your bookmarks to our new forum at forums.footballsfuture.com.

I hate anything to do with hamstrings. 1-2 weeks could easily turn into one month, which could turn into 6 weeks. I'm sure they'll be careful with him, but hamstrings have always proven to be injuries that guys are over only for them to strain again or be working their way back and then suffer a bigger tear... they're annoying injuries. At least with an ankle you can wrap it up. The hamstring belongs to the biggest muscle group in the body (IIRC- that being the glutes muscle group)... and pissing it off is not a good thing.

It's definitely crappy news, but at least the tear is only considered very minor at the moment. I would think the Ravens will wrap him in cotton wool now, for perhaps a little longer than they need to.

Dickson not getting reps with Joe and the rest of the offense in the meantime is frustrating, but on the plus side, this lets the other TEs get more reps, and stake their own claims to be on the roster.

I don't see Bajema surprising anyone and suddenly becoming a viable receiving option, but Shiancoe might have a renaissance, and I really want to see Matt Furstenburg get some time with the first team. But Juszczyk is the one I expect the most from, and hopefully we'll see the start of that in this first pre-season game._________________

@mzenitz: Harbaugh didn't say how likely or unlikely a Pitta return is but the team believes there's a chance that Pitta could make a late year return

GET THAT MAN SOME DEER ANTLER SPRAY PRONTO

Sounds like Stokley and Clark are off to good starts as well. Stokley's been operating in the slot with both the first and second team offenses and I have a feeling he's going to make it difficult for Doss to win that spot.

Quote:

Aaron Wilson ‏@RavensInsider 3m

New Ravens tight end Dallas Clark with a one-handed catch for a touchdown in red-zone drill. Today is his first practice

Torrey had a pretty sweet one-hander yesterday as well.

Only other things of note: Webb is starting to come on stronger and my man Adrian Hamilton continues to impress. Also, AQ Shipley's going to start at center on Thursday, I think Gradkowski still leads for the starting job but it's not a firm hold just yet._________________

RECALCULATING ROUTES: One way that coordinator Jim Caldwell has tweaked the offense is the addition of more horizontal routes that run across the field. He has also used more pre-snap motions, bunches and stacks to help his receivers get separation off the line. Throughout camp we have seen quick receivers like Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss snatch easy passes as a result.

Music to my ears. We haven't had someone scheming our wideouts open in a while._________________

RECALCULATING ROUTES: One way that coordinator Jim Caldwell has tweaked the offense is the addition of more horizontal routes that run across the field. He has also used more pre-snap motions, bunches and stacks to help his receivers get separation off the line. Throughout camp we have seen quick receivers like Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss snatch easy passes as a result.

Music to my ears. We haven't had someone scheming our wideouts open in a while.

Performance of rookies - Elam, Brown, Williams, Wagner have all looked like they belong on the roster.
Unheralded rookies/backups - Matt Furstenburg, Omar Brown, Aaron Mellette, Deonte Thompson etc, have all put their names strongly in contention as well.
The way the Defense is shaping up, with an intimidating front 7, and a secondary that has a lot of talent, but still needs to gel.
Lardarius Webb is looking good, as he returns to full health.

Dislike:

Injuries at TE, and the fact that Shiancoe isn't at all impressive as a potential replacement.
The WRs are not impressing very much. Other than Torrey Smith, we still don't know how the pecking order will shake out. Thompson looked good, but got hurt. Doss has been decent in practice, but not so far in games, Streeter barely warrants a mention, LaQuan Williams had a good first pre-season game, but hasn't wowed anyone in TC.

There's probably more, on both sides, but I can't remember right now._________________

I'd like to see him practicing against Baltimore's own first team defenders. Ugh, this WR situation is frustrating. It's nice to have some young guys with upside (we assume) but seeing them produce against quality NFL talent in the preseason is difficult. Mellette is the only guy that has really shown something but then again he only has 2 catches in 2 games (both for TDs). Everybody else... bleh. Trying to figure out what's going on in training camp is even more confusing since there hasn't been any kind of clear indication of who is excelling or failing. August 31st can't come soon enough.

I think it'll be interesting to see exactly who starts in this next preseason game. With Webb expected to return, even if he only plays a series or two, we can probably glean who the coaches most like for the #2 corner spot opposite Webb, by who the #2 corner will be in the upcoming preseason game._________________

I'd like to see him practicing against Baltimore's own first team defenders. Ugh, this WR situation is frustrating. It's nice to have some young guys with upside (we assume) but seeing them produce against quality NFL talent in the preseason is difficult. Mellette is the only guy that has really shown something but then again he only has 2 catches in 2 games (both for TDs). Everybody else... bleh. Trying to figure out what's going on in training camp is even more confusing since there hasn't been any kind of clear indication of who is excelling or failing. August 31st can't come soon enough.

Hopefully Mellette will be given plenty of playing time in this third preseason game with Flacco and the starters. With Carolina also likely to play their starters for at least a half, we should have ample time to get multiple WRs looks. Honestly, I wouldn't give Torrey anything more than one or two series out there. Get the other guys in there. Because defenses aren't going to play Smith the same in preseason as they will in real games. Obviously in real games, he's going to be bracketed most of the game... whereas in preseason, he'll probably see more 1on1 coverage opportunities. What's more, we know Smith can toast nearly any 1on1, whereas we don't have much info on how our other options can perform in those situations... against opposing teams at least._________________